Improvement in cultivators



UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

ABRAM M. MANNY, OF LENA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN C ULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,115, dated November 21, 1871.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAM M. MANNY, of Lena, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois, have made certain Improvements in Sulky-Cultivators, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to improvements in the kind of cultivators known as sulky-cultivators57 the object of the invention being to construct the parts of the cultivator to adapt them to be changed in their relative positions with relation to each other, and having the same to be adjusted to different positions, as may be desired, when in any of the places the said parts may occupy; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of the parts by which the change of place and position is produced.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side sectional view of the cultivator. Fig. 2 is a top view, and Fig. 3 is a transverse rear view of the same.

A A are the wheels which, with the axle B, carry and sustain the operating parts of the cultivator. The axle B is bent at b upward to a point b', when the central portion b assumes a horizontal position, as seen in Fig. 3, and is round in cross-section, as is seen in Fig. 1. C C are bent pieces, that are connected together at their forward ends and form the tongue of the cultivator, and at their rear ends are firmly clamped to the axle B at the two perpendicular or upright parts thereof. c and c are cross-girts securely attached to the parts C, as seen in Figs. l and 2, which strengthen the tongue laterally and su port and hold other parts of the implement, as hereafter explained. C is a bent metal bar firmly secured at its forward ends to pieces C, and clamped with them to the axle, and extends back in the rear of the axle in a circular form and receives the drivelis seat C. a a are clamps that secure the tongue C and seat-support C to the bent axle, and are in the form seen in the several figures of the drawing. D I) are beams suspended underneath the axle B, tongue C, and seat-support C by means of the arch-brace d that is attached to the under side of cross-girt c', and suspending chains d that are attached at or near the center of their length and underneath the axle. The arch-brace d is pivoted at its center to the under side of cross-girt c in such manner as to allowit, with the beams D, to vibratein a longitudinaldirectionwiththebeams. The beams D are connected at their forward ends to the archbrace d by being pivoted horizontally to clips a a', which allow the rear end of the beams to be raised or vibrated perpendicularly, while the clips a/ c are pivoted perpendicularly to the arch-brace d, as seen in Fig. l, which allows the rear end of the beams to be vibrated horizontally, which construction and attachment of the beams to the pole or tongue give freedom of motion both horizontally and perpendicularly to the beams D. To relieve the arch-brace d from strain in operating the cultivator, there are attached at its lower ends, and below the clips a a, swivels or other equivalent devices, and to them a chain, a, goes to and around a pulley, a, that is secured to or in the forward cross-girt c, which allows the chain to freely turn the pulley when the beams are vibrated horizontally, and keep the draft force equal at each end of the arcl1-brace,whether the beams are vibrated to one or the other side of the cultivator. Upon the tops of the beams D, at the proper distance forward of the seat Cf, are attached foot-rests d d, which ordinarily support the feet of the driver while operating the cultivator. The suspending-chains Z/ d/ are attached to the top of beams D at or near the center of their length, and nearly in the center of the length of .the chains, by an eyebolt and ring or other equivalent device. The rear ends of the chains are swiveled to the under side of clips e e that surround the axle B and contain pulleys e e', and are, when the cultivator is in use, the sustaining-chains, while the forward ends of the chains extendupward and are hooked into and rest in hooks e e lon the forward side of the clips e e and pulleys e/ e', and are the extreme ends of a bent vibrating lever, E, that passes through the clips e and pulleys e', and is rigidly secured to the clips e in any manner that will allow the pulleys e to freely revolve on their axes (which are a part of the vibrating lever itself) and around axle B. The bent Vibrating lever passes to the rear of axle B and approaches toward the driver in such position th at he can readily place his foot or feet upon it, and, by bearing down upon it With his feet, turn the clips e upon the round axle B, causing the hook e to rise, and, through the forward part of the chain, raise the beams so that the plows will be raised to run shallower, in, or entirely out of, the ground for transportation, as desired. The driver can also, by bearing the sides of his legs against the vibrating lever, cause a horizontal vibration of the beams by forcing the vibrating lever to the one or the other side of the cultivator, causing the pulleys to run upon the top of the axle, and carrying the clips and hooks to which the suspending-chains are attached and the beams with them 5 or the beams may be vibrated by the driver bearing with his feet on the rests d, and force the beams to either side. In order to have the beams D adjusted to accommodate different widths at their rear ends, a brace, F, that is arched high enough to allow any crop that the tongue can pass over and go under its arch, is attached to the upper sides of the beams. rlhis arch-brace has its ends that rest upon the beams bent to agree to a right line, and has slots therein with holding-screws inserted in the tops of the beams, by which means the heel ofthe beams can be adjusted and held to any desired width apart. D D are auxiliary beams attached to the beams D. Any number of these auxiliary beams may be employed and attached to the beams in such manner as to equally distribute the plows to perform their work. To the beams D and D are attached the plow-standards Gr G, having plows g g at their lower ends in such manner that they can be adjusted in their upright positions to be at a greater or less angle with the top of the ground, and can be adjusted so as to give to the plows a greater or less angle with the line or direction of draft; or, in other words, give the plows more or less angle against their furrow-slice, and thereby move the furrowslice a greater or less distance, as desired; and to accomplish this end the pivot-blocks h h are securely attached to the standards by means of the plates h h', being bolted through the blocks h at their forward ends and to the standards G at their rear ends, while the pivot-blocks IL are pivoted to the top of the beams D, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. The pivotblocks have a series of adjusting-holes, i fz, through their forward ends, and in the beams D are holes, so that by placing a bolt or pin in holesz' in the pivot-blocks the bolt will pass into the hole under the block in the beam and hold the standard and plow in position; or, if a change of position in the plow is desired, the holding-bolt or pin is withdrawn and placed in adifferent hole in the pivot-block, which will chan ge the position of the standard and plow laterally. These pivot-blocks may be adjusted higher or lower on the standards by having holes through the standards at different places, so that the bolt that holds the plates can be placed in any one desired. Spring draw-bars H H are bolted to the beams D and Dl 5 from thence they go through a mortise in the standards and have a wooden safety-pin at the out or rear side of the standards and go transversely through the drawbar. The front side ofthe standard abuts against the rear ends ofthe beams, which are so formed as to allow the lower part of the standards to change their upright position as the bolt h that holds the plate and pivot-blocks to the beams becomes the pivotal center.l These draw-bars H serve as a means of drawing the plows in their work, and are made springs to allow the standards and plows to vibrate laterally through the pivot-blocks h; and, by having the wooden safety-pins i i at the rear sides of the standards, when too great strain is put upon the plows the pins i i will break and let the standards and plows pivot-bolts that secure the pivot-blocks to the standards. The draw-bars H have several adjustin g-holes, h h in their forward ends, as seen in Fig. l, so that by passing the bolt o through different holes in the draw-bars and into the one hole in the beams the standards G, at their lower ends, will be carried forward or backward, as the case may be, and thus the upright position will be changed or adjusted to any desired angle. The plows g g are made of single thickness of steel, in the form seen in Figs. l and 3, having an angular piece cut outof their heels or back part, shortening the cut at the bottom of thev furrow, while it has no land-side, as is usual in such cases. This construction of the plow allows of the different changes and adjustments of the standards without materially changing the horiv zontal cut at the bottom of the furrow.

The construction and manner of attaching the plow-standards to the beams allows of a ready change of the standards and plows from one beam to the opposite one, so that the furrow-slice or earth mayin such case be thrown toward or from the plants or row being cultivated, which is accomplished by withdrawing the bolt that holds the pivot-block to the standard and taking the standard from the draw-bar and changing it to the opposite side, where it will be secured as in the rst instance; or it may be done by withdrawing the pivot-bolt that holds the pivot-block to the beam and changing the pivot-block along with the standard, as the two modes produce the saine result.

A draft-rod and ring that surrounds the standards that carry the plows may be used instead of the spring draw-bar, as above described, as the result would be the same with either construction.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

The rigid frame of the cultivator, composed of the bent pieces C C, cross-girts c and of, and curved metal part C bolted at its forward ends to pieces C, and clamped to the upright part of the arched axle B by clamps a, in the manner described. l

Witnesses: ABRAM M. MANNY.

Hr. J. STEARNs,

WM. WINTER. (43) swing back on the 

